Press Information

2014 Austrian Grand Prix

Friday Press Conference Transcript
20.06.2014

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES Eric BOULLIER (McLaren), Monisha
KALTENBORN (Sauber), ran! TOST (Toro Rosso), To"o #OL (Merce$es),
%hris"ian &ORNER (Re$ Bu'' Racin(), Marco MATTIA%%I (errari)
PRESS %ONEREN%E
The #or'$ Mo"or S)or" %ounci' *ee"s ne+" ,ee-, i".s "he $ea$'ine /or re(u'a"ions
/or 01234 In 5es"er$a5.s )ress con/erence ,i"h "he $ri6ers "he5 a'' sai$ "ha" cos"
con"ro' ,as "he /irs" or$er o/ )riori"5 /or "he s)or"4 Are 5ou ,her 5ou ho)e$ "o be
on "ha" sub7ec" as "he $ea$'ine a))roaches8 A 9ues"ion /or a'' o/ 5ou4 Eric *a5be
5ou.$ 'i-e "o s"ar"4
Eric BOULLIER: Well, I think it depends on where you want to put the shift. There
were some discussions, they was some real will to do something for the sport from
some teams and I think at the end we achieved some decisions. I dont know yet
obviously how much we are going to save. Is it enough, is it not enough? I think its a
bit to early to say. But at least lets say there was a commitment to do something and
we tried to.
Monisha8
Monisha KALTENBORN: Well, in my view we are clearly not there, where we
should be and where we wanted to be, at least from our teams perspective. I also dont
think we have achieved so far any measurable cost cutting. or us the situation is a
little unclear actually at the moment, at least in my understanding if you mention the
World !otor "port #ouncil there was a decision taken last year by the #ouncil in
which they endorsed cost$cutting as a target and they also agreed in principle to the
cost cap and the I% was mandated to implement that. "ince then other decisions have
been taken by other groups going in a different direction. ollowing that amongst other
teams, ours as well, the non$"trategy &roup teams Id say were asked to bring
proposals in about how you can achieve a sustainable cost base while still promoting
competition. We did that, we also didnt get anywhere on that. In my understanding I
really wonder what the I% is now going to do and how ormula 'ne is going to be
governed in this respect.
%hris"ian, $o 5ou ha6e an5 co**en" on "ha"8
%hris"ian &ORNER: We spent (uite a while talking about things and so on and
weve agreed a couple of things ne)t year which will save money. Testing is reduced,
testing will be in *urope rather than overseas, wind tunnel time and #+ ratios have
been further reduced. But I think whats important to say is that everything that was
agreed in the ormula 'ne #ommission meeting earlier this week was agreed
unanimously. That means every team was around the table and every team had the
right to vote against it but everything that went through went through on a unanimous
basis. Weve got what weve got. I think the most important thing now going forward
is stability.
Marco, are 5ou ,here 5ou ho)e$ "o be on cos" con"ro'8
Marco MATTIA%%I: irst of all, I think it is remarkable that the drivers are
underlining this point. %t the same time, yes, I think we did some progress. ,robably
we could have achieved some more. But I keep stressing the point that according to me
ormula 'ne should focus at the same time on how to appeal to a broader audience,
because I think there is a huge potential for this sport. "o I guess even cost reduction
has to be faced in a much more comple) point of view, a large point of view- how to
make this product more appealing, how to attract more sponsors. I guess yes we are
working e)tremely hard to see where are the opportunities to reduce the cost. I would
like to work even harder to see where we can increase the appeal to wider audience.
To"o8
To"o #OL: .eah, we had lots of meeting about finding out where we could reduce
costs. Its an ongoing saga. .ou know it/s not the case that some teams are against
cutting costs and other are for. We are all for sensible cost cutting because even the big
teams need to make sure we keep it within a certain framework. We need to make sure
that #hristian is not running away with the costs. #hristian needs to make sure that
errari is not running away with the costs. This is why we are all in favour, but it is a
tricky thing and its difficult to get everybody under one umbrella. "o I guess that what
we have done for ne)t year in reducing the in$season testing again, probably to even
less the following year. We came back to *urope. %ll these are sensible steps and this
must be on our constant agenda to further reduce the costs.
Than- 5ou /or "ha"4 An$ /ina''5 ran!: 5our "hou(h"s8
ran! TOST: We have achieved some goals to reduce costs, like #hristian mentioned
before, with less testing and testing only in *urope and the reduced costs on the
aerodynamic side. %nd we will also in future discuss possibilities to reduce costs. I
think this is a longer process because this year we are coming up with a new
regulation, and as we all know a regulation change is always in connection with costs
increasing. I 0ust hope that in the future we will always continue to discuss how to
reduce costs and I am convinced that sooner or later we will come to a target where all
the teams are satisfied.
OK an$ secon$ one "o a'' 5ou4 There ha6e been e+"ensi6e $iscussions on ,i$er
chan(es on "hin(s "o "hin(s 'i-e /or*a" an$ re(u'a"ions in recen" ,ee-s, "hin(s
'i-e a'"erin( "he ri$a5 )ro(ra**e a" race ,ee-en$ an$ "5re b'an-e"s a'' "ha"
-in$ o/ "hin(4 #hich *easure ,ou'$ 5ou )ersona''5 *os" 'i-e "o see
i*)'e*en"e$8 Ma5be ,e.'' s"ar" ,i"h Marco4
MM: %gain I want to have a wider view about how to improve ormula 'ne and the
appeal. %ccording to me, if I could push the button tomorrow, I would like to see a
much deeper, wider engagement toward the audience with the drivers. In the end,
ormula 'ne is innovation but at the same its entertainment and I think that it has
huge opportunity for improvement, for revenues, in engaging the audience, the fan
more to ormula 'ne. %ll the other initiatives sound to me '1 to reduce some costs
but they sound to me tactical and they dont see the bigger picture, the bigger potential
in ormula 'ne.
%hris"ian8
%&: I think foremost and utmost ormula 'ne is a show and it has to entertain. I think
a race like we had in !ontreal is ormula 'ne at its best. Thats what we need to have
and more of it 2 week in, week out. We need to give the public more access, more
behind$the$scenes information and engage them more in what we do. I think we need
more of !ontreal. 3ow we achieve that of course is the difficulty.
ran!8
T: The most important thing about ormula 'ne, which we should not forget, is the
entertainment and when we came back to the riday running which we have in this
year and as we had it in the past, this is something which was (uite important for the
organisers. We have to think how we can bring the cars together, because as we can
see today there are two cars far ahead and as long as the parity of the power units is not
at a similar level it is difficult to achieve interesting races, apart from the fact if
something happens, which was unforeseen. 'nce more its a new regulation, its the
first year that we are in there. I think we also have to work for the public to understand
it better, what we have produced4 how this new power unit works and how the new
regulation has to be interpreted. I think we will do this in future 0ust to increase the
interest of the people in ormula 'ne.
T,o si'6er cars ou" in /ron", "ha".s so*e"hin( I.* sure 5ou ,ou'$n." ,an" "o
chan(e To"o, bu" ,ha" ,ou'$ 5ou 'i-e "o see i*)'e*en"e$4
T#: .ou know I find it ama5ing that we are starting this press conference with two
(uestions about cost reduction and cost savings and talking the sport down. We are in a
fantastic new venue, we have 0ust come back to %ustria to an historic race, this is the
most ama5ing place now. We have had some e)citing races. I admit that lucky for us
we are (uite dominant, similar to how 6ed Bull has been in a couple of years and we
must talking stop talking ourselves down. I cannot imagine any other sport that would
start the press conference in the way like we do, 0ust talking about what it not good.
But coming back to your (uestion- I think that what is important is the show and the
entertainment and engaging with the audience, to what !arco said. ,robably if I could
pinpoint it to a single item, I would say lets stop testing. This is not to maintain our
advantage. This is our own little agenda but it/s not important in the broader view of
ormula 'ne. But its something which is not important for the spectators. I think they
want to have a good show at the weekends. #an we do less testing at the beginning of
the season? ,robably we can but then there is a new engine manufacturer you need to
take of him as well to get enough miles. Then, some of us wanted to get rid of testing
completely during the season. Why not go back to 5ero. But it was not possible and
you would be surprised who was actually in favour of in$season testing. If I could
make a decision I would say lets not test in season any more.
Monisha8
MK: I agree with Toto that we have an e)cellent product here. We have a great
platform, its very attractive. I think its high time that we really focused on the people
we are doing this for. or a team its mainly the fan and for companies its consumers,
customers at the end. We need to really pick up these people, give them a great
moment 2 that they want to come with their kids, the ne)t generation, and see that they
are having a great show here. They need to remember this kind of a moment, which is
not really happening that much. 7ow race in the past have been e)citing or not
e)citing. Weve gone through years where one team dominated, so weve had all that
before and were still here. "o we realty need to get out to the fans, to these consumers
and make sure that they keep their attention to ormula 'ne and thats something we
have not been doing recently.
OK an$ /ina''5, Eric8
EB: Well, Im the same as everybody. Its the start of a new regulation so obviously
there was a lot of change over the last winter. We 0ust want to see closer which makes
the entertainment better which will allow us to engage more with the fans and keep the
fans happy and I think by having closer racing first you have to bring some stability to
the regulation.
;UESTIONS ROM T&E LOOR
;: (Ka"e #a'-er %rash4ne"): In re'a"ion "o "he ans,ers 5ou.6e a'' 7us" (i6en,
,e.6e 7us" an a,/u' 'o" abou" /an en(a(e*en" an$ so'i$i/5in( 2.s )ro/i'e in
6arious "erri"ories4 No, Re$ Bu'' ha6e (o" "he sho,car "ea*4 I ,ou'$ 'i-e "o
-no, /ro* each o/ 5ou, an$ %hris"ian i/ 5ou ,an" "o ans,er as ,e'', ,ha" i" is
s)eci/ica''5 "o boos" or*u'a One.s )ro/i'e in 5our o,n coun"r5 an$ in o"her
"erri"ories "ha" ,e 6isi" a,a5 /ro* a race ,ee-en$8
%&: 6ed Bull are e)tremely active in that area. We have a showcar team that visits
countries all around the world, goes to towns or places that ormula 'ne hasnt been
before, isnt e)pected to be seen. This year it will run in 89 different venues. We
engage with the fan base 2 we have more than : million fans worldwide that are
following us through social media, our digital platforms and so on. Were generating a
huge amount of hits, whether its through a regulation change or to demonstrate the
build of a car. "o we are engaging with our fans and we see our fanbase growing. What
else are 6ed Bull doing? Theyve brought ormula 'ne here. Its fantastic to be back
in %ustria. Its fantastic to have a home grand pri) and I think what +ietrich
!ateschit5 has done in achieving this race and the amount of fans and spectators that
there are here this weekend is great to see and its great to see the enthusiasm that there
is for ormula 'ne in %ustria.
Marco8
MM: It can be done more, definitely. But we have a tradition, we have a thousand of
errari fan clubs worldwide, we are dramatically increasing our digital e)perience, we
have almost ;8 million people on acebook. But I think that has to be all the teams, a
force, because working together in a synergic probably we can sell the product more.
+efinitely in the real life we have showcase car but I think today the younger audience
spend a lot of time on the web, so I think probably to create an e)perience, even from a
brand perspective, on the web is fundamental and we are working on this. "o, thats
important.
ran!, ,ha" are 5ou $oin(8
T: I think theres rarely a company involved in ormula 'ne doing more than 6ed
Bull. %s #hristian already mentioned +ietrich !ateschit5, 6ed Bull, bought the grand
pri) back to *urope, thanks and congratulations for this really fantastic event and for
this e)traordinary facility. %nd we from Toro 6osso are very closely linked to 6ed
Bull and we have, for the ne)t month, a couple of showcar runs in 6ussia 2 because we
prepare 6ussia for the &rand ,ri) 2 ormula 'ne is not very well known over there
and we sent +aniil 1vyat there. In addition to this, ne)t weekend he will be in !oscow
for a press conference, theres also the 6enault World "eries race where he will be, 0ust
to promote the race for 6ussia. %nd we have a lot of sponsor activities in *urope with
#*,"% but also in %merica and #anada with 7ova #hemicals and I think Toro 6osso
is pushing (uite hard to satisfy the fans and make ormula 'ne popular.
Monisha8
MK: Well, with the si5e of team we have, we dont have a demo team that we can go
around and do these things 2 but we try to do whatever we can, particularly with our
partners 2 like with the Telme) &roup in <atin %merica, a lot of activities down there
and thats where we try to support, of course, ormula 'ne also with the race also
coming up hopefully in !e)ico to do something there. I think where we could do more
is particularly around a race weekend. The smaller teams could get together with the
others and make the crowds then benefit here more if our drivers would maybe do
more 2 or we could 0ust interact more with people.
Eric8
EB: Well, its similar, yknow. We are engaging a lot through social media. We are
doing some events, we have a demo team running. =enson was doing a 6ussian tour as
well last week to meet with the media and press conference 2 so we are almost
activating the same.
To"o8
T#: .eah, Id like to add to that, social media is growing at an e)ponential rate with
us. 'n good days we have more than 9>,>>> new likes on our acebook site. We are
almost having the si5e of the !ercedes audience and this shows that that audiences are
probably transitioning towards other platforms. Whether you can monetise it in the
same way, I doubt it?yet. In terms of activation, we do a lot. We have show car runs
everywhere. !ercedes is 0ust launching a big, global campaign around ormula 'ne.
.ou can see much more activation around !ercedes$Ben5s motorsport activities
globally 2 and this of course is to promote the team but also to promote ormula 'ne
everywhere in the world.
;: (Ka"e #a'-er crash4ne") A 'o" o/ 5ou *en"ione$ socia' *e$ia in 5our
res)onses4 No, ,e sa, in "he Mon"rea' ,ee-en$ "ha" "he co**ercia' ri(h"s
ho'$er ha$ sai$ "ha" he 6ie,e$ socia' *e$ia as a /'ash in "he )an an$ so*e"hin(
"ha" $i$n." ha6e "he 'on(e6i"5 "o re9uire our su))or"4 I/ ,e ha6e "he co**ercia'
ri(h"s ho'$er ,or-in( a(ains" socia' *e$ia, ,ha" can "he "ea*s $o in "he /ace o/
"ha" o))osi"ion8
MM: This impression that the commercial rights holder is working against media, I
think as every evolution, you need to do this carefully, considering that there is a
financial model behind, to be migrated to a different way. 7ot necessarily you need to
embrace everything without a proper thinking. There is a certain audience that can be
interested that is present on social media and another audience that cannot be
interested. "o, I believe that there is work in progress and probably that will come up
with some kind of solution in the short term but I didnt have the perception that hes
working against social media.
Monisha, an5"hin( "o a$$8
MK: Im also not aware that hes so much against it. We know that its taken a while
for ormula 'ne to do more in social media and its a fact of life today. .ou cant
ignore it. %nd since we do have a product which is characterised also that much by
e)clusivity, I think we have to be careful and assess very carefully how we open it and
how we can still monetise on it because these are revenue streams which, if they come
in correctly and the distribution is also the right way, it has, of course, an impact on all
the other issues we are combating right now. "o, its all somehow connected 2 but you
have to be careful when you open up to these kind of mechanisms.
To"o8
T#: What !onisha says is very true, because we have e)clusive content and the
commercial rights holder needs to have a long$term strategy about how to monetise the
content and if you generate a billion out of traditional T@, you of course are struggling
in the short term to give everything to the social media, or into the digital world where
you cant generate revenue yet. "o, I think we are at the verge of probably entering into
a new era, where its going to transition into the digital world 2 but you have to be very
careful, you have to plan and you need to balance the interests of your current partners,
and value your current partners, and at the same time make sure that youre
transitioning the business case and the business model into the future.
;: (Lu-e S*i"h NB% S)or"s) Marco, ,e sa, "ha" <ene &aas ,as s)en$in( a 'o"
o/ "i*e in "he errari (ara(e o6er "he Mon"rea' ,ee-en$4 &o, are "a'-s (oin(
re(ar$in( an en(ine su))'5 an$ cou'$ I (e" *a5be so*e 6ie,s on his en"r5 /or
012= ,i"h &aas or*u'a8
MM: We are doing some progress and naturally to enter in ormula 'ne, its a
challenge. .ou need to be competitive and so I think there is, again, work in progress
and probably a decision will be made in the coming weeks 2 but it is important, the
positive thing I believe is to have %mericans who start to look at investing in ormula
'ne, its really an important topic to stress 2 because this is, at the moment, the largest
and most important economy in the world. "o, its a good sign that %mericans start to
look at investing in ormula 'ne. %side, if you look at 3aas or someone else, I really
welcome Anited "tates to look in ormula 'ne.
;: (Mi-hai' Ru$oi Au"o$i(es" Be'arus) ;ues"ion /or Marco4 #hen 5ou ha6e
an5 $i//icu'"5 or )rob'e*s or ,or-in( 9ues"ions, $o 5ou ca'' "o S"e/ano
>o*enica'i "o (e" so*e *a5be a$6ice or $o 5ou $o e6er5"hin( b5 5our se'/8
MM: I think maybe the main characteristic of a good manager is to listen and to ask
(uestion. I think "tefano has been an asset of the company and is an important asset for
me 2 so definitely I ask (uestions to "tefano. I listen to "tefano. %t the same time Im
the one that makes the choice to bring a new direction within the team.
;: (>ie"er Renc-en Racin( Lines) <en"'e*an an$ 'a$5, a/"er abou" a 5ear.s
,or"h o/ *ee"in(s across "he ,or'$, or*u'a One %o**issions, ,ha"e6er, "he
bes" "ha" "ha" "he bes" brains in "he *os" cerebra' s)or" in "he ,or'$ cou'$ co*e
u) ,i"h ,as a cou)'e o/ sa6in(s on ,in$ "unne' "i*e, a re$uc"ion on race "ea*
hea$coun" o/ ",o, cur/e,s increase$ b5 one or ",o hours )er race ,ee-en$? an$
5e" ,e.re su))ose$ "o be "a'-in( abou" cos" sa6in(4 Is "his hones"'5 "he bes" "ha"
can be $one an$ ,ha" sor" o/ /i(ure ha6e 5ou co*e u) ,i"h4 @ou.re a'' business
)eo)'e, 5ou *us" -no, rou(h'5 ,ha" "he sa6in(s ,i'' be4
%&: +ieter, youre very ill$informed because we didnt reduce the number of people
by two, we kept it at the same, so? <ook, its an interesting topic and youve followed
this and written a lot of column$inches about it 2 but costs in ormula 'ne are one
element, the show is another and I think that you have to be careful not to make
decisions that affect the show. %nd there were a lot of things that were tabled that,
when put in front of promoters and other people that have a vested interest in the sport
said, Bwell hang on a second, .ou shorten ridays 2 and you guys were moaning
about it as much as anyone 2 to say well that damages the show, that damages the
promoters ability to sell tickets and put bums on seats. "o, when you put a group in the
room who all have vested interests, whether its the commercial rights holder, the
teams and the governing body, and you talk things through, then you realise well
actually, while there is cost associated with it, by reducing it, well create more harm
than good. "o, therefore, some decisions were made on Wednesday which I believe
were in the best interests of the sport. 7ow, some of them arent going to save any
money 2 well, most of them arent going to save any money but hopefully what we
will get out of it will ultimately be a better show.
Monisha8
MK: Well, I said in the beginning that in my view not any measurable cost$reduction
has been achieved so far 2 but I think we have to look at a bigger picture here which is
that its also been said before, we have to focus at the end of the day on the fans and on
the consumers and we have to start right there- what image does ormula 'ne have
with them? %nd thats not a good image right now and thats where it all starts. "o, if
you find out what it is, you probably come at some point of time, then to points like the
cost, that why do they think we may be burning money here. Its very difficult for
somebody new to come into the sport today because the financial levels are very, very
high. Its very difficult for established teams 2 private teams 2 to stay in the sport, even
if youve done that for 8> years or more. "o we have to try to tackle it from there and
see, can we, can we do something on the costs? Thats 0ust one aspect of it. What can
we do on the show? Because the revenues at the end of the day matter. If they are right.
They are generated by the fans and the consumers, not by us teams 2 were 0ust
spending the money out there. If thats right, all these other areas again will come into
place because probably youre at a sensible level of costs, you can make it e)citing
again, keep a diversity in the sport, which the sport needs. "o I think we have to 0ust
change a bit our view and having a bigger view on it than 0ust focussing on costs.
Eric8
EB: 7ot much to say.
An5"hin( "o a$$ ran!8
T: 7o. %s I mentioned already before, we had a regulation change, and a regulation
change always will increase the costs. We have not to see how in the future it will
come down, on parts or whatever with the costs. The most e)pensive part currently is
the power unit. %nd once the manufacturers have stopped the research and
development work because they have reached a certain level, I e)pect that these costs
will come down, then we have some cost savings on the aerodynamic side and, as
!onisha mentioned, that we get a balance with the interest of the people, that we dont
lose people, because thats very, very important. ormula 'ne has to stay on this very,
very high level and then I dont see any problems for the future.
;: (Ian Par-es Press Associa"ion) @ou s)o-e ,e'' a" "he s"ar" abou" "he nee$ "o
en(a(e ,i"h /ans an$ "hen 5ou "ouche$ on ,ha" 5ou.re curren"'5 $oin( ,i"h
re(ar$ "o "ha", bu" I.6e no" rea''5 hear$ *uch so /ar b5 ,a5 o/ )o"en"ia' so'u"ions
as "o ,ha" 5ou cou'$ $o /or "he /u"ure "o $ra, "he /ans in4 Ob6ious'5 one o/ "he
successes in "he )as" ,as "he /ans /oru* /or ar(u*en"s. sa-e ,hich ,as run
b5 "he no, $e/unc" OTA4 Is "here a )ossibi'i"5 o/ so*ebo$5 )ic-in( u) "ha"
ba"on an$ runnin( i" a(ain across a'' e'e6en "ea*s, no" 7us" )re6ious'5 "he OTA
"ea*s8 As I sa5, I.* 'oo-in( /or )o"en"ia' so'u"ions no, as "o ,ha" 5ou cou'$ $o
ra"her "han ,ha" 5ou.re curren"'5 $oin(8 To an5bo$5 ,ho ,ou'$ 'i-e "o s"ar" o//4
T#: .oure right, we need to e)plore all avenues and all opportunities. We had some
pretty good discussions in the last meeting, engaging with the promoters and I think we
need to continue to discuss that with the ma0or stakeholders and !r !onte5emolo has
started an initiative to put the most important stakeholders on the table and evaluate all
these opportunities. I guess besides a fan forum which for sure was a good idea, there
are many other possibilities, be it in real life, be it on the internet or the media. We
should look at everything.
MM: The digital world is changing every day. *very day there is a new opportunity.
+efinitely, it is important, as Toto will say, as our president !onte5emolo has been
saying, we need some kind of workshop, all the stakeholders, sponsors, teams to take
time and to come up with a business model or strategy to engage more with the young
generation, with a wider audience, which kind of channel to use. .ou can go to
Twitter, to &oogle, every kind of new media. I dont think its rocket science but you
need to do things in a calibrated way because its a very competitive arena where you
have impressive sports like champions league, 7B% or 7< that do a remarkable 0ob
so I think that you need not 0ust say '1, lets embrace new media, you need to have a
very clear marketing strategy that is going to make sure that all the stakeholders will
have a return on it, so I think it re(uires time, its a serious e)ercise and I think we
started a process. "o Im e)tremely confident that we started a 0ourney to go in that
direction.
EB: There is no magic wand, you know, there are no secrets. .oure obviously going
to have to dig it out, you know, so you need to work and as long as we keep the
discussion open and we know what we want to achieve we need to ad0ust to all the
actions which is individual actions or around the track as well. %s you said, there were
some forums organised in the past, maybe its going to come up again. Its 0ust that we
obviously need to ad0ust during this process where we are changing ; for the future.
;: (%hris"ian Ni**er6o'' Mo"ors)or" To"a'4co*) To "he re)resen"a"i6es o/ "he
bi((er /our "ea*s: "he Le Mans 0A hrs 'as" ,ee- (enera"e$ a hu(e /o''o,in(,
)robab'5 bi((er "han in )re6ious 5ears4 Is an5 one o/ 5ou (u5s consi$erin( a Le
Mans )ro(ra**e in "he /u"ure, or can 5ou i*a(ine "o consi$er i"8
T#: Well, you know, for !ercedes its a tricky one. ,ast attempts werent really
successful. Its a serious e)ercise, if you consider the resources which are deployed to
be competitive in <e !ans, it is at ormula 'ne level, but nevertheless, as a racer, I
must admit its an ama5ing race. I spent three hours in front of the live timing and I
couldnt move away because it was so e)citing in the night, detrimental to my family
life but very e)citing indeed.
%&: 3ow did your wife feel about you looking at live timing in the middle of the
night?
T#: "he was (uite upset with me, actually.
%&: I bet she was.
%&: "he was (uite upset with me. %nd, erm... 7ow youve put me off. .ouve
derailed me. "o no plans to do <e !ans from our side.
%&: I was not looking at the live timing in the middle of the night. It was obviously a
great race, e)citing race. It shows that different technology can produce close racing.
.ouve got a normally aspirated, a diesel engine very similar to what we have here and
it was still close racing, so maybe theres a few things that ormula 'ne can learn from
it but I think that <e !ans was an e)citing race, it was great to see our old driver, !ark
Webber, doing very well. Anfortunate for him, with a couple of hours to go that
obviously they ran into difficulties but its a different thing. <e !ans is one race, its a
spectacle, its a 8C hour race. ormula 'ne is a totally different kettle of fish, its a
sprint race that happens ;:D;E times a year but of course theres always things you can
learn from other activities.
MM: irst of all we were at <e !ans and we won the category with car 9;, with a C9:
so it was a remarkable achievement. 3aving said that, its good to look at other series,
what can be migrated to ormula 'ne but ormula 'ne is ;E races and I believe that it
is a worldwide platform so we need to consider that there is a very good base to start
from. 3aving said that, myself, personally and my team, we are ;>> percent focused on
ormula 'ne. I have to do my 0ob here at the moment so I cant have this distraction.
EB: "o no to your (uestion, but its true that <e !ans is a one event in itself.
'bviously Ive passed some years there so I know a little bit how it works and I did
show up there on riday 0ust to have a look but there are a couple of things that we
should look at how they run their hybrid energy storage and stuff like this. !aybe there
is something we could learn and get into ; but its different racing.

;: (Si'6ia Arias Parabrisas) Ta'-in( abou" Le Mans, "here are so*e ru*ours
"ha" *a5be /or "he ne+" 5ear "he races ,i'' s"ar" ,i"h "he sa/e"5 car in /ron"4
#ou'$ 5ou 'i-e so*e"hin( 'i-e "ha", "o i*)ro6e "he sho, or ,ha"e6er8
MK: Well, not too long ago weve had (uite a discussion on safety car starts and
things like that so I think what weve now managed to agree there is the right thing I
think. We should focus on what now we have changed for ne)t year and see how thats
going to affect the viewers and the show and then lets take it from there, so lets not
0ust start getting wildly into actions and trying to 0ust change because we need to do
some action.
;: ('a6io Vane""i %orriere $e''a Sera) To Marco Ma""iacci: ,e ha$ an
in"er6ie, b5 Luca $i Mon"e!e*o'o in "he #a'' S"ree" Bourna', "hen he $is*isse$
"he in"en"ion o/ errari "o 9ui" or*u'a One bu" in case 5ou $on." see "he chan(es
5ou.$ 'i-e "o see in or*u'a One, can 5ou consi$er "he )ossibi'i"5 "o 'ea6e "his
,or'$ or no"8
MM: I dont want to work with that perspective. I know that ormula 'ne is about
errari, and that errari is about ormula 'ne. I want to work, we will work, the
president will work in order to improve and to make sure that we will have a ormula
'ne that will appeal to a wider audience, so at the moment I will not consider the
scenario.
;: (Pe"er Va*osi Vas Ne)e Kia$oi KT) To a'' o/ 5ou: ho, $o 5ou 'i-e Mr
Mon"e*o'o.s i$ea o/ in"ro$ucin( "hir$ cars in each "ea*8 >o 5ou ha6e a $ri6er
/or "ha"8
T: irst of all, we currently have eleven teams, 88 cars and as long as these eleven
teams stay in ormula 'ne, theres no reason and no need to bring in a third car.
MK: I agree with ran5. Were there to be a need, it wouldnt first of all be a good
thing for ormula 'ne because obviously then some teams would no longer be there. I
think its an interesting idea. The idea has always been coming up since a long while
and maybe we could even use that to improve the show. I think there could be smart
ways to see how you could actually use that car but the least problem I think wed all
have would be with the drivers. I think we all have enough.
EB: irst, there is a limitation on the number of cars per race, so obviously if you
would go, as ran5 said, if you would go three cars per team now, there will be too
many cars and that means that some cars would not race. I think the idea to run a third
car is... unfortunately, if we had less teams, that could be a means to obviously run
enough cars on the grid, but your (uestion about drivers, dont worry, there are enough
around.
T#: .eah, I agree with what all three have said. %t the moment we have eleven teams
and hopefully they stay in ormula 'ne but the past has shown, the last 9> years have
shown that some teams come, some teams go. 7evertheless, if it falls below a critical
level, which we estimate as a critical level, having a third car could be a way of filling
up the grid and there could be interesting discussions about promoting that, putting
young drivers into the cars and weve had many of those discussions and I think you
need to have a fallback scenario in case we are really running into difficulties, but our
agenda right now needs to be to keep the grid as it is.
%&: 7othing really to add, its not relevant at the moment.
MM: We have always been... we are in favour to have a third car, in particular if we
understand the opportunity to give this car to a young driver, the other driver for
different geography. I think looking to improve the show, I think it could be a great
opportunity and we are in favour of this.

*nds